Eren's soul sense leaked a bit when he spoke to the old man and made his stance known. The words and the tone used to speak them were enough to tell Sebastian that Eren was not afraid to make a move on House Slughorn.
Sebastian narrowed his eyes at Eren and felt something weird about him. It was as if his instincts were telling him that he was more dangerous to his House than he had come to realize just now. However, he ignored those feelings and spoke up.
"Haha. Being young always makes one naive and delusional. Lad, I have seen a dime a dozen like you that get into the spotlight fast and disappear faster. Sometimes no traces of them could be found on the face of Anfang."
Eren chuckled at the old man's comment. He finally let go of Kirin's hand and used it to adjust his hair before speaking up.
"Disappearing from the spotlight? Hehe. Master Sebastian, if you want to threaten me, do it right. Don't do it while hiding behind a euphemism.
Do you want to see how it's done?"
Eren made a naked threat to the B-Ranked Master potioner with his words. And he did it while sounding casual. As if he had all the things he needed to fight with him and his entire clan.
Levine saw that Eren wasn't backing down from a confrontation with Sebastian. She already knew that he had already messed up with House Remus with his recent actions. She didn't want him to get involved in any more conflicts. At least not on a personal level.
"Uncle Sebastian, Eren is my disciple. I hope you can forgive him for his naive comments. He is still learning, you see. The seniors have to show a bigger heart in forgiving their juniors."
Levine's voice sounded sweet and gentle, which changed the tense atmosphere around the table. Sebastian shook his head in denial before speaking up.
"I didn't come here to fight with you, little Levine. If my old age has taught me anything, it's that a needless fight is always bad for business. No matter if our opponent is an ant or an elephant. It just changes the scale of the repercussions."
Sebastian looked at Eren after saying that. And all he received in response were the latter's deadpan expressions. Sighing, the old man continued.
"I didn't come here to talk about Sienna either. It's just as you said. She was a bright child once. Someone who I could see leading the clan into even more prosperity in the future. But I have lost all hope in her now. It's like she suddenly became a different person when she entered her teen years.
She can't even handle the tasks I have given her in the city of New beginnings. And she had managed to mess up with House Carren. The same House this lad has managed to enter into partnership with."
Sebastian looked at Levine and pointed at Eren. The old man drank some more potion from his vial and cleared his throat before continuing further.
"I am not here to talk about the past. But the fact remains that this young man is at the helm of everything that is going wrong for me in my old age. As if he had a personal score to settle with House Slughorn.
He gets the opportunity I had wished Sienna would get and becomes your disciple. It's the separate dimension managed by his guild in which Sienna creates trouble with the House Carren."
'And here I thought I was the master of bullshitery. Not that he is wrong about me settling personal scores with his House.'
Eren had a random thought as he listened to the old man speak. But he didn't disturb or try to present a counter argument.
Sebastian was reading too much into Ere's plans to mess up with his house. He didn't know that the House Slughorn wanted Levine to take Sienna under her tutelage. It wasn't like he had given Levine's test to get her supposed position. He had become Levine's student for his own sake.
The butcher certainly hadn't set Sienna up against House Carren even though she had done it while she was technically inside the White Raven city. This was something she managed to do on her own. Eren wasn't even in his city when the incident had taken place.
Seeing Sienna's ability to attract trouble for her House like a giant mess magnet, Eren applauded in his head. He drank his ale as he listened to the old man speak.
"And lastly, the policies he has come up with in selling his potions make me wonder if he has any previous enmity with my House. Coming up with potions that purposely compete with my House's line was not enough. Now he is trying to split the market and create chaos in the entire kingdom.
Forget about my House. No other potion-manufacturing organization will support his decision. They will join hands to defeat their common enemy before competing with each other once again. Frankly, I'm surprised that House Derringer and your faction still want to associate themselves with a trouble-seeking young man like him.
I don't think that lad Demonmir has to do anything. The fellow is on a self-sabotaging mission by himself."
Levine looked at Sebastian and sighed. The old man thought that she had agreed with him. But what she said next made him change his mind.
"Things are not the way they look, uncle Sebastian. Eren only lets me know the things I'm supposed to know. So I wasn't sure what he was doing at first. But the announcement in the presentation made a few things clearer to me."
Levine then turned her gaze toward Eren before asking him.
"Eren, do you have anything to say about uncle Sebastian's grim predictions?"
Sebastian didn't understand what Levine was talking about. So he too looked at Eren with an inquisitive glance. The butcher smiled subtly before confirming Levine's doubts.
"My guild has entered into binding contracts with some potion-manufacturing organizations. The same top organizations you are banking on. They let me monopolize the market without their retaliation.
It's just as you said, Master Sebastian. I also believe that a needless fight is always bad for business. But I also fight the necessary battles with greater zeal than anyone I know."
